The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-13
SUMMER DRESSES.
a New Way of Storing Them to Keep
Them Through the Winter.
(Copyriohted)

(COpgri0hted)
New YORK, Sept. 10.-Already the tinge
of autumn in the air has caused the femi-
nine mind to turn from the pretty lawns
| and mulls, the delicate India silks, grena-
dimes and elaborate white robes with which
they have made themselves more or less
| beautiful all summer to think of heavier
| fabrics and fur-trimmed costumes. With
! the change of season comes the disposal of
the summers wardrobe. To many this is as
great care as in the spring is the putting
away and caring for furs and woolens.
! Many ladies sell their summer dresses as
! soon as they have ceased wearing them and
| thus save the care of them, but the price
paid for these articles of clothing by the
dealers is so very small that few will
trouble with this mode of disposal; the
wealthiest ladies give their dresses to their
maids, who in turn drive sharp bargains
with those willing to buy. There is a place
of which a friend told me where ladies'
dresses are exchanged for something else
! they may desire; this same lady pointed to-
ward three pretty rugs which she assured me
were exchanged for some of her last winters
| tinery.
The greater proportion of women retain
their dresses at least through two seasons
10 properly care for them requires thought,
trouble and plenty of room, which latter the
| New York woman seldom has. She is
obliged to stuff her prettieSt gowns into
| trunks, to see them next year robbed of all
their daintiness, every puff crushed down,
every plat turned the wrong way and the
whole a shabby and discouraging mass,
with which she never again takes any COM
fort No woman likes to be seen in last
| years dress, but if last years dress can by
care so travel incognito that its identity is
| preserved, and no one suspects it of other
than being brand new, the wearer feels as if
she had gained a conquest. If one has a
| large dark closet the dresses may come out
as good as new in the following manner:
| Get several yards of common white muslin
sheeting, make loops of tape so that it will
| hang evenly all around the closet, then hang
each dress on hook, the skirt on the lower
part the waist on the upper part of the
hook, so on around the closet; then double
sheeting up over the dresses. This edgemust
also be provided with tape loops, which hold
the sheeting in place entirely over the
! clothing SO that they hang as in a loose fiat
bag. There is nothing to crush them or
destroy their prettiness. The fact of the
compartment being dark is of Importance
| Many colors that become somewhat faded
| in the sun resume their former brightness
when placed in the dark for some time.
This is particularly true of blue dresses. ]
once saw a blue silk the wearer thought was
! ruined by the bright sunlight, which appar-
emily had extracted all the color, bearing
| only dullish white. Sorrowfully the dress
was hung in a dark closet; consigned to the
tomb, as it were. A few days later the lady
in question got the dress to show friend
| the sad havoc the suns rays had wrought,
| when to her surprise the dress looked ex-
actly the same as when new. The darkness
| had restored the color. She continued to
wear the dress, but always in the evening
There are few shades, however, that are
faded by gaslight.
For those who have not sufficient room to
arrange dresses as | have described, long
wooden box the length of the dress skirt
can be made by any carpenter, and may be
transformed into an attractive lounge by
! placing mattress upon the top, over which
may be thrown a Turkish rug, or any of the
artistic fabrics so easily procurable; add two
| or three sofa pillars, and the effect is lux
ur1ouS piece of furniture. If the dresses
are thrown in loosely, not packed as in a
trunk, they will not crumple, or if they do,
but very little, which may be soon removed
by hanging before window any damp day.
1t is most important, either in hanging
dresses or laying them away, never to turn
them wrong side out, as this process Injuries
the appearance of the drapery more than
| any packing. 1t was the process of our
grandmothers to turn the stiff hrocaded
skirts inside out, before replacing them in
the wardrobe, until the next occasion of
| ueSblNlU1. III 1lluSU Dc remembered, now
ever, that these antique costumes were, for
the most part, plain round skirts without
drapery.
In the putting away of wash dresses every
vestige of starch should be removed, and
they should be left unironed. White dresses
of any fabric are improved by placing
sheets of blue tissue paper between the
folds and then wrapping the whole dress in
the same paper.
Sashes should be ripped apart, the ribbon
| steamed and rolled over a stiff roll of paper
the same width. Next season they will
look like new. The process should also be
used in renovating black silk, after it has
been sponged with a solution of ammonia
and water; never iron, but roll over a
wooden or paper roll, while still damp, and
it will come out when used exactly as if
freshly purchased.
EVELYN BAKER HARvIER.